The fact that the corporate insolvency reforms in the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA 2002) and the moratorium introduced by the Insolvency Act 2000 (IA 2000) do not extend to Northern Ireland has not been widely documented by commentators. Nevertheless, it is important in an era in which many lenders have branches or associated companies based on both sides of the Irish Sea, and business recovery professionals take appointments in Northern Ireland and England. There is a dual insolvency regime developing in United Kingdom, and the gap between reforms being introduced in Northern Ireland and implemented in the rest of the United Kingdom must be closed quickly.
The corporate insolvency provisions of EA 2002 came into force in England, Wales and Scotland on 15 September, 2003. EA 2002 has radically reformed corporate insolvency law, even more so than the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986). Some of the key reforms are:
